Closing Stock Market SummaryThe stock market found some upside momentum today after logging big losses recently. Some speculative buying interest on the notion that the market was oversold on a short-term basis aided the rebound effort, along with the well-received earnings reports from Dow component Nike (NKE 115.78, +12.57, +12.2%) and leading transport company FedEx (FDX 169.99, +5.64, +3.4%). Today's trade has triggered some renewed hope that the stock market could see a Santa Claus rally after all to end the year.
Nike led the Dow (+1.6%) to first place among the three main indices thanks to signs of strong demand and a contention that the worst of its inventory problems are behind it. FedEx, meanwhile, said demand trends softened further in its fiscal Q2, but pleased investors nonetheless with additional cost-cutting actions aimed at preserving profit margins.
In addition to these reports, market participants digested some better-than-expected consumer confidence data for December, which was another support factor for the broader market. That report overshadowed a weaker than expected existing home sales report for November that was released at the same time.
The broad-based rally effort saw the S&P 500, which breached 3,800 yesterday, push past its 50-day moving average (3,877). The main indices clung to a fairly narrow trading range around that key technical level starting about 11:00 a.m. ET. Ultimately, the S&P 500 managed to close one point above its 50-day moving average.
All 11 S&P 500 sectors registered gains today. Consumer staples (+0.8%) and materials (+0.8%) showed the slimmest gain while the energy sector (+1.9%) sat atop the leaderboard. The heavily weighted information technology (+1.7%) and consumer discretionary (+1.6%) sectors were among the top performers also.
The mega cap stocks were a pocket of strength today, except Tesla (TSLA 137.57, -0.23, -0.2%), which continues to struggle. This comes after CEO Elon Musk said "I will resign as CEO (of Twitter) as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job! After that, I will just run the software & servers teams" and a report indicating that the company is aiming to implement a hiring freeze and announce layoffs, according to Electrek.
The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) closed up 1.6% and the S&P 500 gained 1.5%.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -8.2% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: -14.0% YTD
- S&P 500: -18.6% YTD
- Russell 2000: -20.9% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: -31.6% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
- The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index rose 0.9% with refinancing applications jumping 6.0% while purchase applications fell 0.1%.
- Current Account Balance fell to -$217.1 billion in Q3 ( consensus -$224.0 billion) from a revised -$238.7 billion in Q2 (from -$251.1 billion).
- Existing home sales decreased 7.7% month-over-month in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million ( consensus 4.20 million) versus an unrevised 4.43 million in October. That is the tenth straight month that existing home sales have fallen. Total sales in November were down 35.4% from a year ago.
- The key takeaway from the report is that median price growth has slowed appreciably as higher mortgage rates, and affordability pressures, are crimping interest from prospective buyers.
- The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index took a surprising turn for the better in December, jumping to 108.3 (consensus 101.0) from an upwardly revised 101.4 (from 100.2) in November.
- The key takeaway from the report is that there were upticks in both the Present Situation and Expectations Indexes driven by improved views of the economy and jobs, and declining gas prices that contributed to the lowest level for year-ahead inflation expectations since September 2021.
- Weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories showed a draw of 5.894 million barrels following last week's build of 10.23 million barrels.
Market participants will receive the following economic data on Thursday:
- 8:30 a.m. ET: Q3 GDP Third Estimate (consensus 2.9%; prior 2.9%) and GDP Deflator Third Estimate (consensus 4.3%; prior 4.3%)
- 8:30 a.m. ET: Weekly initial jobless claims ( consensus 225K; prior 211K) and continuing claims (prior 1671K)
- 10:00 a.m. ET: November Leading Economic Index (consensus -0.4%; prior -0.8%)
- 10:30 a.m. ET: Weekly EIA Natural Gas Inventories (prior -50 bcf)